Today is July 1st. That means the year is officially half gone. Weird, right? I mean, the year -- 2015 is half done. It`s July 1st.

And here is how July 1st was celebrated at the stroke of midnight in Portland, Oregon, last night.

At the stroke of midnight last night in Portland, Oregon, a huge crowd of people in the streets. When the clock hit 12:00 midnight, there were fireworks over Portland. There was a big cheer from the crowd.

The crowd was weirdly sort of bigger than the cheer though. I mean, that many thousands of people out in the streets of Portland last night with that big countdown to midnight. The fireworks and everything, you wonderful have expected a more deafening roar when it came to the cheer. It was big a cheer at midnight. It wasn`t that big a cheer.

It turns out, I would say roughly half the people who were out there in the streets of Portland last night started cheering at the stroke of midnight. But the other half, they were not cheering because they were inhaling, deeply, because as of midnight last night, Oregon is the fourth state in the country to legalize the recreational use of marijuana.

Now, in all the states that have started doing this, there is always something a little awkward about the start of it. What`s awkward in Oregon is that right now, although it`s legal, you can`t buy it or sell it.

But officially you can now legally grow it. You can legally give it away. You can smoke it. And you can possess it. In fact you can possess a lot of it.

The Portland, Oregon Police Department put out this handy visual aid to help people understand how much pot you`re now legally allowed to possess in Oregon. In case you have a heart time conceptualizing weights and measures, they put this visual in some sort of objects to compare it in terms of scale so you can just envision about how much they`re talking about.

So, for example, you are allowed to have an ounce of pot on your person in Oregon now. You are allowed to have eight ounces of pot in your house. So, they`ve got these pictures. The little tape measure there, the ruler to show you how much an ounce looks like or how much eight ounces look like.

But also, in addition to the tape measure, see that other thing? Because it`s Oregon, because it is Portland, Oregon, the other thing the Portland police have included in this picture with the pot, just as a visual point of reference, the other thing they put in the picture is a Voodoo Doughnut, a Voodoo Doughnut.

Voodoo Doughnut is a donut shop based in Portland. They are famous for thing like their bacon maple bar which is a maple bar which doesn`t just have bacon flavor. It comes with a giant slab of bacon stuck into the frosting on the top of the doughnut.

They have also a famous Captain my Captain donut, which is loaded with Capt` Crunch cereal. Their tang fantastic doughnut is vanilla frosting dusted with tang powder. Yes.

Because Voodoo Doughnut is based in Portland, they also invented the Portland cream doughnut, which is basically a Boston cream doughnut that they draw googly eyes on.

But their trademark confection is the Voodoo Doughnut as seen here. The Voodoo Doughnut is filled with red raspberry jelly so that it bleeds when you stab it. And it comes with its own handy stabber. It comes with a pretzel stick right into its little voodoo doll heart.

And so if you want to know how much pot eight ounces is, or how much one ounce of pot looks like because you either want that much in your house or you want to carry it around, starting today because it is legal, the Portland Police Department wants to help you grock that concept. God bless Voodoo Doughnuts. God bless Portland, Oregon. God bless Oregon, which as of today, July 1st -- if these pictures are anything to go by -- as of today, Portland and Oregon as a whole are both significantly gigglier than they used to be. Well done. Good luck.

July 1st is a day when a lot of new laws have gone into effect or were slated to go into effect. Texas wanted to put into effect its new anti-abortion law today which I`ve been expected to shut down almost every abortion clinic in the state. That was slated to happen today, July 1st. But it was blocked by the Supreme Court this week.

On the other end of the political spectrum, in California and Massachusetts today, new laws go into effect as of July 1st which require your boss to give you paid sick leave.

In red state Indiana today, July 1st marks the date on which you can now legally possess a sawed off shotgun in the Hoosier State.

Seriously, there was apparently a need for this. What Indiana was missing was that it didn`t have enough sawed off shotguns in circulation. That problem in Indiana has today been fixed.

In the great state of Maine today, July 1st was supposed to be the first day on the new job for the Maine Democratic speaker of the house. The Maine Democratic speaker of the House, his name is Mark Eves. Speaker Eves was recently hired to run a lovely school and charter school in central Maine.

They needed a new president of the school. He applied for the job. They interviewed lots of people. They decided to pick him. He agreed to take the job. They set the start date. Today was supposed to be his first day at work, July 1st. Today was going to be it.

But after the school announce that had they had hired the House speaker as their new president, Maine`s Republican Governor Paul LePage blew his stack and told that school he would cut all state funneling to that school if they went ahead and hired that guy, because he hates that guy. And so, thus threatened, the school pulled their job offer for the Maine Democratic speaker of the house.

They said, I know we offered you the job. You were due to start July 1st and we`re rescinding the job offer because of this threat.

Paul LePage, governor of Maine, may end up getting impeached for having done that. Today, the legislative community that does government oversight in Maine voted unanimously to open an investigation into the governor`s conduct in this manner.

Paul LePage`s reaction to that unanimous vote in the legislature today was to tell legislature that, actually, they`re not allowed to investigate him. He said that the legislature is not allowed the oversee anything the governor does.

And as much as you might think that sort of thing might be dominating the news in the great state of Maine today, actually, Paul LePage ended up having a really big news in the news today for a totally different reason unrelated to his potential impeachment.

He had big news today, big day today in the news, because of a visit to Maine from this guy.

Yesterday, New Jersey Governor Chris Christie became the 14th major Republican candidate to enter the race for the Republican presidential nomination. The Christie campaign made a big deal immediately after he announced his run for president, he was not just flying off to New Hampshire to do an event in the Granite State. They went to great pains to point out after Chris Christie made his big announcement yesterday, he was just like the up to do one event. He was basically moving to New Hampshire, a solid week of New Hampshire campaign events to start Chris Christie`s run for the presidency.

Because they had made such a big deal about that, it was therefore a surprise this morning when we learned that Chris Christie`s first big event in New Hampshire this morning was canceled. And it turns out they canceled that event because Chris Christie decided to go on Maine instead to collect the first endorsement of his presidential run which happens to be the first presidential endorsement of anyone by any sitting governor in the country -- Chris Christie and Paul LePage.

It turns out these guys were just made for each other.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GOV. CHRIS CHRISTIE (R), NEW JERSEY: When I called him this weekend and told him I would officially get into the race this week, he said, all right, I`m with you. Let`s go.

SUSAN KIMBALL, PORTLAND PRESS HERALD: The two men became fast friends when Christie campaigned for LePage last year.

Christie visited Maine five times in 2014. In fact, it was his last stop on the campaign trail.

GOV. PAUL LEPAGE (R), MAINE: When all of you and the colleagues around the country had me as a dead walking governor, Chris Christie had faith.

KIMBALL: He still does. Christie says he supports the controversial decision to withhold funding from Goodwill Hinckley if the school hired Democratic House Speaker Mark Eves.

CHRISTIE: This governor has been a huge supporter in this state. He wants it for kids, not for the benefits of anyone else.

KIMBALL: As to possible investigation into that controversy, LePage says it`s not going to happen.

LEPAGE: They can`t investigate me. It`s in the constitution.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MADDOW: They can`t investigate me. Actually, it looks like they can investigate you for that or for anything.

And in fact, the legislative committee that`s going to do the investigating, they voted unanimously, all the Republicans and all the Democrats to start the investigation.

So, I mean, it`s kind of amazing in Maine politics right now, but it`s also kind of amazing in national politics right now, right? So, Chris Christie probably could have won the Republican nomination for president in 2012 in a walk.

Common political wisdom is that the reason he is now four years later at the absolute back of the pack this time. Basically seen as having no chance of the nomination this time is substantially because of his bridgegate problem in New Jersey, right? People in his administration have pled guilty or about to go on trial for having punished a political enemy of Governor Christie by blocking access lanes on to the George Washington Bridge, using the resources of the state, using the power of the governor`s office to punish one of his political enemies.

And on the day Chris Christie`s presidential campaign starts with that looming over it, Chris Christie leaves the campaign trail in New Hampshire to instead go to Maine to get this high profile endorsement from another governor who on that day started facing his own investigation for using government resources to punish one of his political enemies.

It`s like taking worst most disastrous thing about your own record that is holding back your own candidacy and shining a big spotlight on it. Remember this kind of corruption? Here`s what it looks like twice.

A few Quinnipiac poll today came out for the Republican presidential field in Iowa, specifically. They polled on 16 presidential candidates or likely candidates. Chris Christie came in at 15 out of 16.

The guy leading the poll by quite a bit actually as you can see is one of the only potential contend here`s has not actually formally declared that he`s running, Scott Walker out in front in that Quinnipiac Iowa poll.

Big pulling story of the day, though, is not just who`s coming in first in individual polls. It is who keeps coming in second in a lot of different polls. In that Quinnipiac poll for Iowa today, the person who comes in tied with Ben Carson for second place after Scott Walker is Donald Trump. That`s Iowa specifically.

There`s always new national CNN poll that`s out today. That new national CNN poll has Donald Trump polling in second place behind Jeb Bush. This follows two recent polls out of New Hampshire where Donald Trump polls in second place.

And weirdly, PPP just did a poll in Michigan where again, Donald Trump polls, tied for second place.

I mean, the Beltway press thinks it is between a fluke and hilarious that Donald Trump keeps turning up at the top level of these polls, both nationally and in a bunch of key states. But it looks like it`s not a flash in the pan, it`s like these are not outlier polls. He is turning out to have really resilient, really high polling numbers among Republican primary voters nationwide and in key states.

And you`ve got to imagine that poses kind of a conundrum for Mr. Trump himself. It is the widespread assumption that Donald Trump is not really intending on contesting the race for president of the United States. He is not really trying to or expecting to become president. He is simply running this campaign as a big ambitious PR effort to help his standing as a pseudo political celebrity, and to help his business ventures, a lot of which depend on him having a very high public profile and seeming like an important guy.

I mean, polling in second place nationwide and in the early, important early states ahead of all these other real politicians, not long after you apparently had to hire actors to act like they were your supporters at your launch event. It probably does make a person feel very important, probably makes the person feel like this PR effort is very successful. But this PR effort has also raised to prominence Mr. Trumps insistent and now repeated claims that Mexican immigrants to the United States are criminals and specifically rapists.

So far, those claims which Donald Trump made at his presidential announcement, those claims have cost Mr. Trump his very lucrative television deal with Univision, which is one of the outlets that broadcast or used to broadcast the beauty pageants that he partly owns. Those comments have also cost Mr. Trump his very lucrative TV deal with NBC Universal, of which we here are a part.

NBC not only broadcasts some of those beauty pageants, but also broadcast or used to broadcast reality shows that involved Mr. Trump. That relationship has been severed by NBC.

Today, the department store Macy`s announce that it too will sever its relationship with Donald Trump, that Mr. Trump had marketed and distributed apparently a Donald Trump clothing line through that store but that is now over.

And then tonight, news broke that the entire city of New York where Donald Trump lives and runs his businesses and operates numerous high profile properties, all which of have his name on them, the city of New York as of tonight said it is reviewing Mr. Trump`s contracts with the city.

A statement released from Mayor Bill de Blasio`s office tonight says this, quote, "Donald Trump`s remarks were disgusting and offensive and this hateful language has no place in our city. Trump`s comments do not represent the values of inclusion and openness that define us as New Yorkers. Our Mexican brothers and sisters make up an essential part of this city`s vibrant and diverse community, and we will continue to celebrate and support New Yorkers of every background."

Again, New York City reviewing Trump contracts with the city tonight.

Right now, Donald Trump of all people is doing great in the polls. And because of the way FOX News and the Republican Party are planning to organize the primary debates, the fact that he is doing so well in the polls almost right now almost assuredly means that Mr. Trump will hold a debate on the stage that somebody else therefore can`t get.

They`re only taking the ton ten contenders. That will include Donald Trump. Donald Trump`s presidential run is now only becoming very costly to him, more costly with each passing day as he keeps losing all these business deals.

Mr. Trump`s presidential run is also becoming quite materially costly to the other contenders in the race. Some of whom are really not going to be allowed to compete for the nomination, in part because he will be taking their spot on the debate stage. If you`re not in the debates, you aren`t competing.

And one of those would be contenders who will like be squeezed off the stage and who really has almost no hope to make it into the initial debates with the field as it is now is Ohio`s Governor John Kasich. Today, we learned that he has reserved this lovely room at the Ohio state university. It`s their student union. This is where he`s going to be making his presidential announcement. This particular room at the student union is known for hosting one of the earliest viral flash mobs.

We learned today that John Kasich will try to make as big a splash as possible by making his presidential announcement there two weeks before the debate, on July 21st. They announced you can get your public tickets now.

We also learned today on the Democratic side of the ledger, former Virginia Senator Jim Webb might be about to decide if he is going to run.

I`m sorry, I should have warned you about that. Did you just spit coffee at your desk? Did you drop something?

Hillary Clinton announced her quarterly fundraising total today. She raised $45 million in the second quarter of this year. That`s just ending.

Forty-five million dollars is a lot of money. That`s more money than she raised in this quarter in 2008. It`s more money than Barack Obama raised running against her in 2008.

However, this $45 million is probably less than half the amount that was raised in this past quarter by Jeb Bush. Jeb Bush has not announced yet but it is expected that he will be up over $100 million. Hillary Clinton reporting over $45 million in fundraising.

With all of this going on, it remains the case, Beltway media notwithstanding, it remains the case that quantitatively speaking, the biggest news in presidential politics right now, the biggest deal on the ground, the most manifest enthusiasm, the most visible support for anybody on either side of the partisan divide continues to be for Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders.

Tonight, right now in Madison, Wisconsin, the event that`s going on there is unlike anything else that has happened to any other candidates this year. In Madison, Wisconsin, today, people started lining up hours in advance to get in to see Bernie Sanders give his campaign speech. This is not like a special speech. This is just a regular campaign that he`s doing. Another day on the campaign trail for Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders.

But it was a very long line, many hours before it was due to start. People psyched to be there, psyched to hear him speak.

The venue in Madison is a huge venue, a 10,000 seat venue. Bernie Sanders is drawing enormous crowds who are super, super psyched to see him. Really, really genuinely enthusiastic that he is in this race. Nobody else is turning out numbers like he is, Republican or Democrat.

So, there`s a lot going on in politics today. There`s a lot of other news going on in the world today too. But Bernie Sanders turning out 10,000 people in Wisconsin right now is a bigger story than the beltway would have you think.

Do you feel the Bern? I feel the Bern. I do.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MADDOW: OK. We have some breaking news coming up in just a second. There is a thing that just happened literally in the last few moments that was stunning. We have the video of it coming up right here in just a moment. We`re getting that together.

I`m telling you, this is not only stunning. You not only have to see it but it will affect your plans for this weekend. Don`t go anywhere. That`s next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MADDOW: Breaking news, I actually have some breaking sports news. I never get to do this.

Last night, as we were coming on the air we learned some very big news relating to this. Last night, the U.S. women`s World Cup soccer team beat Germany 2-0. The German team was ranked number one in the world. The U.S. beat them last night.

The women`s World Cup has been underway in Canada the last month. That big win means the U.S. team is going to the World Cup final this coming weekend.

The U.S. team has been waiting since last night to see who they will face in the finals. We know the U.S. is in the finals. The question is, who are they going to be playing against?

Just within the last moments we have learned who the U.S. are going to be playing for the World Cup final. Can you tell I`m excited? A few minutes ago, England lost to Japan, in their semifinal game. So, it`s going to be the U.S. versus Japan.

But England lost to Japan in pretty much the most heartbreaking fashion you can possibly imagine. The game was tied 1-1, just a few minutes left. And England, there`s like no good way to say this. But England scored on themselves, own goal in the World Cup semifinal. This is incredible.

Watch this. Japan is going to be the team in blue here. England is the team in white. The white team England is on defense. OK? England in white. They`re on defense. Japan has the ball. They`re in blue. I can`t even watch this.

Look. Just look.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ANNOUNCER: She plays the ball. Did it go in the goal? Goal line technology. Could it be an own goal by England?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MADDOW: Yes, yes, it could. And it was.

That was how the game ended. That`s how we found out who was going to the World Cup against the U.S. England is out. Japan is going.

And so, the match up is now set. The U.S. will play Japan for all the World Cup marbles. The game is this Sunday in Vancouver, and that in itself is very exciting. Even if you haven`t watched the other games before now, you are going to watch the final on Sunday night. You have to, particularly if you haven`t been paying attention until now.

Here`s just one thing to know. If you absorb nothing else, just absorb this. The U.S. team has not been letting the other team they play against score, to a remarkable extent. I mean, their first game in the World Cup, they played Australia. The U.S. beat Australia 3-1. Now, that 1 for Australia, Australia scored it in the first half. But that goal scored against the U.S. in the first half of the first game they played in the World Cup, that is the last goal the U.S. has given up in the world tournament.

They tied their next game 0-0. They won their next game after that, 1-0. They won a game after that, 2-0. They won a game after that, 1-0. They won last night 2-0 against the best team in the world. I mean, that`s a lot of zeroes, right?

The U.S. has not given up a single goal since the first half of the first game they played. They haven`t given up a goal in the first half. They have the longest streak in the entire history of the World Cup.

How would you like to be Japan having to face that? How would you like to be Japan having to face that when it turns out that the way you, Japan, got into the final is by England scoring on itself, since you couldn`t pull it off. Amazing. Amazing.

Saturday is July 4th. The game is on July 5th. The match-up is now set, U.S. versus Japan. You must cancel all your competing plans.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

NARRATOR: Castro marks the second anniversary of his revolution with the biggest military parade ever staged in Cuba, featuring tanks and other heavy weapons from Russia and Czechoslovakia. Shortly afterwards, Castro demanded the United States embassy drastically reduced its staff to 11 persons. With the last straw in his long campaign of provocation and harassment, President Eisenhower broke off relations with a message read by Press Secretary Hagerty.

JAMES HAGERTY, PRESS SECRETARY: There is a limit to what the United States and self-respect can endure. That limit has now been reached.

Our friendship with the Cuban people is not affected. It is my hope and my conviction that in the not too distant future, it will be possible for the historic friendship between us once again to find reflection in normal relations of every sort.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MADDOW: That was Press Secretary James Hagerty. He was press secretary to President Eisenhower in 1961 when the U.S. broke off diplomatic ties with Cuba. They said they hoped and expected the American embassy in Havana would only be closed for a short time. That it would reopen, quote, "in the not too distant future."

That was 54 years ago. 1961, at the height of the cold war. This island incredibly close to the United States, lots and lots of economic ties and tourism ties and ties through binational families, right? It was huge news in 1961 when the embassy closed, when diplomatic relations were cut off.

Even then though, with it being a blaring front page story throughout the country and the world, still, nobody thought that those diplomatic ties that were cut that day in 1961 would stay cut for 54 freaking years. It took until today.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: More than 54 years ago, at the height of the Cold War, the United States closed its embassy in Havana. Today, I can announce the United States has agreed to formally reestablish diplomatic relations with the Republic of Cuba and reopen embassies in our respective countries. In January 1961, the year I was born, when President Eisenhower announced the relations with Cuba, he said, "It is my home and conviction that it is in the not too distant future it will be possible for the historic friendship between us once again to find normal relations of every sort."

Well, it took a while but that I believe time has come. And a better future lies ahead.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MADDOW: A better future lies ahead. The not too distant future took 54 years.

This change started in December when we got the surprise announcement from President Obama after 18 months of secret negotiations that the president wanted to restore diplomatic relations with Cuba. The secret negotiations had been helped along by Pope Francis.

Soon thereafter, there was a prisoner swap. And the easing of restrictions and people sending money home to their families and they eased up on travel restrictions, and on banking restrictions. And the president called on Congress to debate lifting the embargo that we have imposed on Cuba all this time, that embargo was something the president can`t lift on his own, Congress has to do it.

And all of those steps, thus far, those have been a really, really big deal. But then, today, the reopening of the embassies after 54 years of being closed, President Obama said today the Secretary of State John Kerry will travel to Havana this summer to raise the American flag over our embassy there.

As for the Cuban embassy here -- well, Cuba has an interest section in D.C. that has served for years. That building will probably be the new embassy when we get a new embassy again. Apparently, over the last few weeks, that specifically building has had a freshly paved driveway. They repainted the fence and "The New York Times" reports they have erected a huge new flagpole in the front lawn, presumably to get ready for the time coming when they`re going to raise the Cuban flag in Washington, D.C.

So, this is all underway. It is happening. The next big question is the embargo and Congress.

And today, President Obama circled back to that too.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

OBAMA: Americans and Cubans alike are ready to move forward. I believe it is time for Congress to do the same. I`ve called on Congress to take steps to lift the embargo that prevents Americans from doing business in Cuba. We`ve seen members in both parties to begin that work. After all, why should Washington stand in the way of our own people?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MADDOW: Is Congress going to stand in the way? Can Congress block the opening of the U.S. embassy in Havana or the Cuban embassy here? Can Congress block the confirmation of the U.S. ambassador to Cuba?

I mean, what`s happened, this almost unimaginable progress after this half century, right? This is something President Obama has done on his own. He obviously wants supportive action from Congress, whether or not he gets it, could they actually stop what he is doing and what he plans to continue to do if they set their minds to it?

Joining us now is Senator Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota, who has proposed legislation to end the U.S. trade embargo against Cuba.

Senator Klobuchar, it`s great to see you. Thanks for being here.

SEN. AMY KLOBUCHAR (D), MINNESOTA: Well, thank you, Rachel.

By the way, I loved the break-in on the World Cup. You do have a second career as a sportscaster.

MADDOW: Unfortunately when I get excited talking about sports, I flap my hands like a seal having a seizure. So, I can`t -- I don`t think it`s going to happen.

KLOBUCHAR: It was good.

MADDOW: All right. Well, let me ask but this Cuba situation. What`s the worst-case scenario? How badly could Congress screw this up? Screw up what President Obama wants to do if Congress really set their mind to it?

KLOBUCHAR: Well, the House has made one negative vote about the president`s executive order, but I don`t think you would see that it in the Senate in terms of ever getting to the 60-vote margin. I`m carrying the bill to lift the embargo. I`ve got Senator Enzi, Senator Flake. We`ve got 17 cosponsors now on the bill, and many more who have said they want to get to and also who have said they`ll vote for it even if they don`t get on.

So, I really see the momentum as pushing Congress. We know there are some people that are seriously opposed to this. But more and more people are coming on board.

These are as you point out, 11 million people 90 miles off our shore. I was there in the spring and the people are ahead of their government. All over the place you see artwork with the date, December 17th. It doesn`t mean much to us but to them, that is the date the presidents announced they wanted to work to normalize relations between our countries.

This is a country that wants to start doing business and we see great opportunity for the U.S. I`m up here in northern Minnesota, northwestern Minnesota. You don`t see opposition here. You see opportunity and potential.

MADDOW: This is one of those issues on which Washington politics around this issue and some parochial politics around this issue are very, very dug in. But the public opinion and Cuba, the public opinion in America, broadly speaking, the public opinion among Cuban Americans, is very, very supportive of this kind of change. But again, entrenched interests very much want to stand in the way.

How do you see that negotiation sort of happening between overall public opinion and the people who care so much about stopping us?

KLOBUCHAR: Well, I think people are going to have to listen to their constituents. Their constituents want to visit Cuba and they want to freely visit Cuba. Their constituents wanted to do business in Cuba.

And we really what`s happening now is the president has made this announcement. Under the law, he gives few weeks notice to Congress and then he can open the embassy. As you point out, that building is already there.

And, by the way, there are dozens of flag poles right near that building and that is because during the Bush administration, they started running electronic ticker tapes on the top of our then, not the embassy but our building with phrases about buying things and what it means to be American, Castro got ticked off. He put up those flag poles, surrounded black flags around it so no one could see it. That actually happened.

The flags are still down but the flag poles are there and it is a symbol of what`s been the conflict between two countries. This announcement today will not only ease the beginning of these negotiations that can lead to lifting the embargo and change to the human rights policies but it also is a major, major symbol for change. And I think it is a really exciting day for both countries.

MADDOW: Senator Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota, thank you so much for being with us. It`s great to see you. And thanks a lot.

KLOBUCHAR: Well, thank you. And I`m looking forward to that game Sunday night.

MADDOW: Sunday night, me too! Exactly.

Seriously, if you didn`t already have plans to watch it, you now have plans to watch it. It is not like you get a choice or you have some other thing you`re going to do. I don`t care. Sunday night. You`re watching the World Cup final. You are. You are.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MADDOW: So late tonight, we just got word that the governor of Alabama is going to make an announcement. He has summoned the press. He has said it will be major news. He has not saying what it`s going to be major news about. It`s intriguing.

I have a guess though -- I have an informed guess as to what it is about and how big a deal it`s going to be when he does it. And that story is next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MADDOW: Late this afternoon, in the span of about an hour, what might be the most conservative federal court in the country issued serious rulings about marriage that radically changes the map.

For instance, this map of Mississippi -- in the counties marked in red in this map, clerks have not been issuing licenses to gay couples. The U.S. Supreme Court legalize same sex marriage on Friday, but clerks in these Mississippi counties said they were still waiting for the conservative Fifth Circuit Court of Appeal to sign on to what the Supreme Court did on Friday.

Well, this evening, that happened. The Fifth Circuit making it clear, yes, gay marriage is legal even in Mississippi, case closed.

Also, Texas where the Texas attorney general has been encouraging clerks to refuse to issue licenses to gay couples if they wanted to. The yellow squares on this map from the "Dallas Morning News" showed where Texas clerks were not issuing licenses, some of them because they were waiting for a final opinion from the Fifth Circuit. Well, here you go too. This evening the fifth circuit issued a ruling saying that, yes, gay marriage is legal, even in Texas, too.

Also Louisiana, Governor Bobby Jindal is saying he will not recognize gay marriages until the Fifth Circuit forces him to. Well, here you go. The court has tonight issued its ruling saying gay marriage is legal in Louisiana, too.

In Alabama, the head of that state Supreme Court has been so in confusion about who needs to issue licenses and when. Yesterday, his own lawyer blasted Alabama`s governor for having the gall to say the state would obey the Supreme Court. Quote, "Public officials are ministers of God, assigned the duty of punishing the wicked and of the protecting the righteous. You cannot serve two masters. You must pick, God or Satan," says the lawyer for the head of the Supreme Court.

But even there, in Alabama today, a federal judge issued an order. Yes, gay marriage is legal even in Alabama.

For all the kicking and screaming and heel dragging by conservative leaders in these states, this thing really is over. I mean, the orders have come down. Marriage equality is legal in Mississippi and in Texas and in Louisiana and in Alabama.

But we are still seeing pockets of kicking and screaming, right? A few county clerks and judges in all these states refusing to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples or in some cases refusing to issue marriage licenses to any couples at all. A judge in Pike County, Alabama is refusing to issue marriages to anyone. He has asked the county to hire him a lawyer for the expected lawsuit. The county said no. So, maybe that ends that.

In Kentucky, a few county clerks are refusing to issue marriage licenses for gay couples and it appears they have two options. They can resign as county clerks or face some sort of legal consequences for that. One of those clerks is saying essentially, well, then, send me to jail. We`ll see.

So, we do have these, what do you call them? Dead-enders who say they would rather go to jail than do their jobs. It is clear today from these new federal court orders that the Supreme Court ruling really does hold everywhere. Even in the last pockets of kicking and screaming.

What`s not clear is how this finally gets resolved everywhere and how long that takes and who actually does the work of making it happen.

Well, joining us now is Douglas Hallward-Driemeier. He was one of the two attorneys who argued the landmark marriage case before the Supreme Court that led to this ruling on Friday.

Mr. Hallward-Driemeier, thank you very much for being here this evening. It`s really nice to have you here.

DOUGLAS HALLWARD-DRIEMEIER, ATTORNEY: Thank you, Rachel. Very happy to be with you.

MADDOW: I should say congratulations on winning this huge case. So, congratulations. I have to ask you if in these days since it has become the law of the land, if you find these pockets of resistance, these places where they are still kicking and screaming, if you find it to be frustrating or disheartening?

HALLWARD-DRIEMEIER: Well, it is frustrating that there would be any place in America where fundamental right to marry is being denied. I think it really is important that we not lose sight of the forest though for these few trees. Given what we have seen in many states like Tennessee where the case that I was specifically involved in came out across the state in Tennessee, people are getting married. There`s an outbreak of joy, right, as people get on celebrate with the one they love that wonderful bond.

And even in these holdout states, we`re seeing very quickly. I`m taken back to Brown v. Board in this notion of all deliberate speed, which meant decades, apparently. You know, here we`re seeing the course of a few business days, that virtually everyone is falling in line. And these dead-enders, as you would call them, are really very few in number.

MADDOW: Do you think there will be instances where couples will have to bring lawsuits against the state like a scenario where there is only one person at clerk`s office who can issue a license but that person refuses to do so for religious reasons? Is some of this actually going to have to be resolved through lawsuits?

HALLWARD-DRIEMEIER: Well, I would certainly hope not. I think that there is a lot -- there has been some political positioning on the part of some politicians who are trying to score their points, but I think that even there what we have seen has been fairly careful in recognizing that when the Fifth Circuit issues its order they perhaps thought it was going to be months. It was a matter of hours.

When the district court enters its order, the Fifth Circuit was clear, the district court in Louisiana has to enter a final judgment no later than July 17th and earlier if he can, because the court pointed out there`s a plaintiff in that case who is in poor health and needs this relief.

And so, even there, it is a matter of days. It`s not a matter of months if much less years. And anybody who thinks they are going to resist this is going to find no welcome, you know, corner I don`t think anywhere, certainly not in any federal district court.

MADDOW: Attorney Douglas Hallward-Driemeier, really appreciate you helping us to understand all this. It`s remarkable to see it happen. It`s a little unpredictable as to how exactly it`s going to happen everywhere. But I think your clarity that this is a done deal is just a matter of dotting the I`s and crossing the T`s. It`s very, very clarifying. Thanks for being with us tonight. I appreciate it. Thanks.

HALLWARD-DRIEMEIER: Thanks so much. Take care.

MADDOW: All right. We got a lot more ahead tonight, including one large prop we have made recently that turned out to be a very good investment.

Please stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MADDOW: In South Carolina, "The Post and Courier" newspaper has been keeping a whip count of state legislators who say they favor taking down the Confederate flag from the grounds of the South Carolina state capitol.

Well, according to their count, there is now a 2/3 majority of South Carolina legislators who say they will vote to bring the flag down. This means they have got the votes to do it in South Carolina.

Now, a vote on legislation to take the flag down could come as soon as Monday. Legislatively, they are no specific deadline here. But there is one difficult date on the calendar that is looming. I almost hate to talk about this but you should know about it.

July 18th, the Ku Klux Klan plans to rally at the South Carolina state house in support of the confederate flag there. That chapter of the Klan you may have heard they have been calling the confessed shooter in the massacre a young warrior. So, that date is out there, July 18th.

South Carolina legislators are moving fast to take the Confederate flag down. There`s an open question as to whether or not that confederate flag will still be on the capital grounds when the Klan shows up to try to rally around it, July 18th. Tick-tock. Watch this space.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MADDOW: Sometimes, the investments worth it. Seriously. Sometimes, it is worth it to go all out even if you don`t know right then that it`s going to be worth it, it`s going to be worth it.

All right. Here it goes. Late last night, history was interrupted at the White House. First Lady Michelle Obama was hosting the first ever camp out on the White House lawn, 50 Girl Scouts supposed to be spending the night outside in tents pitched on the south lawn of the White House. But that sleepover was interrupted due to torrential downpours that they had in D.C. in years last night.

In the midst of that, in about 1:00 a.m., all the Girl Scouts left their tents and moved their sleeping bags in to the White House, inside to the fourth floor of the Eisenhower Building. That had to be sort of a drag for Girl Scouts counting on camping, right?

Before the storm they sang camp fire songs with the president and the first lady. They did get to star gaze with a NASA astronaut, a NASA astronaut who said she packed her space station pajamas specifically for the occasion.

And earlier in the day, before night fell, the Girl Scouts got to climb on a 28-foot rock wall they set up for the Girl Scouts on the White House grounds, which is awesome. And also awkward because the issue of climbing lessons at the White House lawn right now is kind of fraught. I mean, there`s been a difficult recent history of people successfully climbing over the White House fence, right, and on to the White House lawn and sometimes getting further than that.

So, when those Girl Scouts were learning how to scale tall objects on the White House lawn yesterday, that was actually all happening just a few hours before the White House started installing a removable anti-climb feature on the White House perimeter fence.

Today, the Secret Service and the National Park Service installed these extra spikes on the fence. We knew this was coming but today, the new security measure was actually installed. The morning after the Girl Scouts had to flee from the storm. And after seeing what it looks like installed, I have to say you heard it here first.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MADDOW: So this is our unofficial mock up of the White House fence. We have the spears at the fence which are kind imposing. So, in this setting, you`re on the sidewalk and I`m the White House. What the Secret Service is planning to do until they get their state of the art giant fence to further protect the White House, in this case, they have clamp on detachable pencil-point steel spikes that go like this, at an angle. They sit at a slight five degree angle like that. Do you feel deterred?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MADDOW: I have never been more proud of our props folks. That mock up looks pretty much like the real thing. Spot on. Also makes me feel better about this. Utter vindication for commissioning our expensive welded full-scale mockup of the White House fence. Yes, not a single regret. Totally nailed it. Woo!

That does it for us tonight. We`ll see you again tomorrow.

Now, it`s time for "THE LAST WORD WITH LAWRENCE O`DONNELL."

Good evening, Lawrence.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.END

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